The Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations presents its compliments to the UNCSD Secretariat and has the honor to attach hereby the contribution of Costa Rica for compilation document to serve as basis for the preparation of zero draft of hte outcome document for Rio+20.

The Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the UNCSD Secretariat the assurances of its highest consideration.

Contribution of the Government of Costa Rica for the compilation document for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Conference)

(a) Renewed commitment for sustainable development

The texts adopted in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Conference), comprising Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of Forest Principles, and the international environmental agreements deriving from that Conference (Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change); the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation; and the political dialogue that has taken place in recent years in the context of the Commission on Sustainable Development, continue to provide an appropriate framework for action to make further progress towards sustainable development at all levels.

Sustainable development is not a rigid concept or framework for action; rather, it adapts dynamically and proactively to changing conditions on earth and in human societies, such that emerging challenges and gaps can be addressed without the need to reformulate the agreed guiding principles, which would entail costly negotiations and proceedings. The capacity of sustainable development principles to adapt to global and national circumstances should be recognized and viewed as a key element for future dialogue on sustainable human development.

The international community should recognize the urgency of strengthening its commitment to sustainable development and its principles, through concrete measures that address current and emerging challenges and gaps in such a way that the needs of the most vulnerable and needy countries and societies ? as well as those that have made significant progress towards improving the quality of life of their citizens but still need to consolidate and extend the progress made ? are met effectively, fairly, transparently and with solidarity.

Costa Rica considers it neither fair nor sustainable to maintain international cooperation policies that, based on economic indicators of per capita income or gross domestic product, exclude middle-income countries that have managed, at considerable effort, to increase or maintain their investments in sustainable human development. Instead, cooperation initiatives with those countries should be strengthened in order to help them to make the necessary qualitative leap to consolidate a policy framework and the institutions required to achieve their full development and not create perverse incentives leading to a reduction in the said investments or a less efficient use of the resources available.

The identification of specific sustainable development objectives on which the international community can focus over the next decade and which meet the need to balance efforts and investments between the social, environmental and economic spheres ? the three essential pillars of sustainable development ?, reflected in an action plan incorporating concrete goals and the means to implement them, as well as the guaranteed commitment of the developed countries to take the objectives forward, is the right way to secure the renewed political commitment for sustainable development promoted by the forthcoming Rio+20 Conference. Those elements should, furthermore, be accompanied by the support and joint, coordinated and integrated action of all institutions, agencies and programmes of the international system.

(b) Achievements in the implementation of sustainable development

a. International conventions: agreements on global frameworks for action

The international community should recognize clearly that the binding legal frameworks represented by the various international agreements agreed in recent years with regard to the environment and sustainable development have created forums for open and transparent political dialogue, accompanied by proposals for action at the national and international levels, and have allowed significant, though still insufficient, progress to be made with a view to overcoming important global challenges.

As a law-loving country, Costa Rica considers that these international instruments are the best way to address major global challenges and realize the desires and commitments of the international community in a transparent and participatory manner. In that regard, efforts must be redoubled to further strengthen the global legal frameworks for addressing the major challenges faced by humanity, including some existing frameworks, such as the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, that require additional action in order for their objectives to be fully met.

Costa Rica has undertaken to implement fully the international environmental agreements and has taken legislative, political and operational measures to facilitate the incorporation of their objectives into the national planning system, whilst also ensuring that they are duly implemented. It has prepared national communications and country reports, bearing in mind the need to report on the status of implementation at the national level, and has participated actively in the meetings of the respective Conferences of the Parties.

b. Progress in political dialogue towards sustainable development

The Commission on Sustainable Development has clearly also served as a platform to continue dialogue with a view to improving action on the sustainable development agenda at the global, regional and national levels and, in particular, to promote the application of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to reach agreement on some issues, such as the need for a global strategic framework to address the issue of sustainable production and consumption. Some of the issues on the agenda of the nineteenth session of the Commission, such as transport, chemicals management and hazardous waste management, as well as mining, require further discussion and agreement within the framework of strengthened global institutions.

At the national level, although major progress has admittedly been made in the establishment of an institutional framework that is relatively appropriate to the country's requirements, in many of its programmes of work on environmental matters, it is also true that capacity for the integrated planning of sustainable development needs to be strengthened, in order to guarantee the involvement of all Government institutions and the participation of relevant sectors, with the aim of tracking progress in the implementation of public policies, through objective information.

The active participation of the productive sector and the social sector, through public-private initiatives for the development of programmes, projects and activities consistent with national sustainable development initiatives, has been a vital factor in lessening these difficulties and clearly demonstrates the willingness of Costa Rican society to work together with State institutions in taking forward this type of action. It also indicates that the starting point for national efforts towards sustainable development must be the shared construction of the development model that society wants (a national vision), which requires the facilitation of appropriate forums to promote genuine national dialogue, as well as the existence of an institutional framework that guarantees the equitable representation of actors in the context of the three pillars of sustainable development (social, environmental and economic), with sufficient political support and operational capacity.

c. Progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals

The millennium initiative ? and the Millennium Development Goals that were agreed at that time ? has shown that political will and an international consensus can make an effective contribution towards improving the performance of countries and organizations in respect of agreed common objectives accompanied by appropriate implementation measures. Even though it is possible that not all the Millennium Development Goals will be fully and comprehensively met, significant progress can be observed in many countries.
Costa Rica committed itself to that initiative and our recent assessment shows us that we are on the right track to fully meet our commitments. That has entailed considerable political will and efforts to concentrate investment on specific goals to strengthen sustainable human development.

(c) Implementation gaps

1. Need for an information system that incorporates sustainable development indicators based on the Rio principles
One of the difficulties that as countries we face in analysing and assessing our progress towards sustainable development is the absence of an integrated system of standard and internationally agreed information that incorporates suitable indicators on all matters deriving from Agenda 21 and the Rio principles, and is able to reflect historical changes related to the participation of sectors requiring a special approach, as is the case with the major groups, particularly women, youth, indigenous peoples, etc. The absence of such a system not only limits the extent to which objective information on the impact of policies and measures implemented at the national level can be prepared, but also makes it difficult to evaluate correctly the progress achieved at the global level.
2. On the status of implementation of international commitments relating to the financing of sustainable development

Another area where we see weaknesses relates to the failure of the richest countries to meet their commitments to provide the internationally agreed international cooperation resources, which has led to a reduction in investments for sustainable development, primarily in the world's poorest countries, but also affecting the middle-income countries. Against a backdrop where the vulnerability of the vast majority of developing countries to climate-related events, especially resulting from climate change, is increasingly evident, there is a vital need to ensure additional, stable and predictable financing flows in order to mitigate the impact of those events and strengthen investments aimed at improving risk management and climate change mitigation and adaptation, which is becoming a strategic focus of sustainable development planning.

3. Capacity of international markets to recognize the value of natural capital

The international markets still do not fully recognize the value of the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity and the natural resources located primarily in developing countries. In their search for new and better income opportunities, those countries are obliged to use such resources more intensively, resulting in a gradual deterioration of natural capital, which is the basis for development and a prerequisite for the sustainability of our countries. Efforts to achieve market recognition of the real value of the goods and services provided by ecosystems must be urgently strengthened, in order to generate greater income opportunities for developing countries and thereby reduce the pressure on ecosystems and natural capital as well as improve the quality of life of peoples.

d. New and emerging challenges

1. Crisis of the international financial system

The financial crisis that has severely affected the world economy in recent years and its impact on global opportunities for investment in human capital, particularly in developing countries, should be a matter of concern for, and be given immediate attention by, the international community. The international financial markets, operating under fair and transparent rules supported by the international community, need to find a way to ensure stable conditions that reduce the negative impact on our countries' expectations of sustainable development. In this regard, both development institutions and private financial institutions should fully incorporate sustainable development principles into their investment and financing policies, in order to contribute to the sustainability and equity of global efforts.

2. The state of the world's basic securities: climate security, food security, security of natural capital and the health of ecosystems, drinking water security, and the right to survival.

The clear signs of degradation of the world's natural resources, exacerbated by the impact of climate change, threaten security of survival, affecting elements vital for human health and the wellbeing of countries, peoples and ecosystems, particularly drinking water and food resources, the protection of which is strategic in a scenario of sustained global population growth. Despite the existence of legal and global policy frameworks that take account of some of these aspects of development, the expected changes are not being achieved as quickly as the planet requires. There is no regulatory framework for water resources that guarantees a secure supply of sufficient quality and quantity to meet its different uses, while the measures to guarantee food security have shown signs of major weaknesses.

For many small island States or countries exposed to high levels of vulnerability or risk, such as our own, appropriate attention to climate change is a fundamental requirement to guarantee the human right to survival. This Conference must take concrete measures to ensure that the basic securities of countries, populations and ecosystems are fully taken into account, in accordance with the requirements of science.

3. Rationalization of reporting efforts

Developing countries must make ever greater efforts to provide full information on the implementation of activities arising both from the application of global agreements and from other sustainable development policy frameworks. The international community must take actions aimed at rationalizing these processes, seek more efficient and cohesive means of reporting, and enhance capacities for monitoring national and global progress in sustainable development.

Similarly, it is vital to establish how to record systematically the contributions to sustainable development that are made by different actors and social and productive sectors at the international, national, regional and local levels. Such contributions are not generally reflected in systems of official statistics, since those are basically designed to record public investments. Significant contributions to progress towards sustainable development are made by efforts related to human resources training, support for local initiatives and vulnerable groups, information and awareness-raising activities, activities with a political impact and support for the rights of vulnerable peoples and groups, campaigns to defend the rights of endangered species and ecosystems, support for production and service programmes, etc.

4. Land-use planning

Land-use planning is one of the least developed aspects of the sustainable development framework at a global level, although it is one of the specific tools that could contribute to a cross-cutting approach to sustainable development, since it provides information for decision-making that allows conservation to be taken into account in production planning, particularly with regard to the impact of public policies at the national, regional and local levels and the coordination of institutional efforts with the participation of actors other than central governments. At the global level there is, in particular, an absence of sea-use planning and marine resources use planning, which constitute the basis for ensuring the survival of many species, in particular those that form part of the food security of many populations around the world.

e. Conference themes:

1. Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication

National and global efforts towards a green economy must be seen as fully interlinked with the ultimate goal of achieving balance among the three pillars of sustainable development. The fundamental aim of such efforts must be to eradicate poverty and meet the pressing needs of the most vulnerable groups in society for guaranteed access to information, equity and justice. Furthermore, they must help to increase the income of countries and populations, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote the efficient use of energy and water, increase employment opportunities in green jobs, strengthen organizational structures focused on fair markets, and help to guarantee food security and the reduction of environmental degradation, in both land and marine environments.

Costa Rica has been making progress in this direction for many years. Shortly after the 1992 Rio Conference, we became the first developing country to establish a tax on carbon emissions and thereby generate resources to combat deforestation and promote the maintenance and recovery of forest cover through a programme of payments for environmental services, which has enabled significant achievements in improving our forestry sector carbon pools. We have strengthened the national protected areas system, which currently covers 26 per cent of our territorial land and 17 per cent of our territorial sea, and have promoted the involvement of the private sector in national measures for the conservation and sustainable management of the country's natural resources, through various market and recognition mechanisms. Through the "Forever Costa Rica" initiative, which received an award in Nagoya for its contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, a public-private association model has been established, in which groups of partner non-governmental organizations, in association with the Costa Rican State, have undertaken to comply with the Convention on Biological Diversity Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA).

Furthermore, in order to obtain a substantive change in society with a view to achieving sustainable development driven by the green economy, an ethical framework is needed, underpinned by personal and community values and principles and backed by coherent and supportive political action. The approach adopted must take fully into account the climate change aspect, especially in relation to vulnerability and adaptation, risk management and mitigation.

One of the core objectives of the green economy must be to ensure the protection and sustainability of natural capital as the basis for sustainable human development, respecting the capacity limits of ecosystems and species to provide goods and services in a sustainable manner. Consequently, its design and implementation must take account of aspects such as the development of green accounts in systems of national accounting to reflect the contributions of natural capital to national economies; the promotion of green fiscal reform with a view to generating positive incentives for sustainable production and eco-development; and the elimination of perverse incentives that do not promote the efficient use of resources. In this regard, efforts must be made to achieve rapid progress in developing or modifying models or methodologies for the valuation of environmental goods and services and in promoting certification and recognition schemes that strengthen eco-efficient approaches to production and services in both the public and the private sectors.

Furthermore, a green economy must incorporate all productive sectors; generate preferential conditions of access to credit, development and transfer of green technologies and green markets; improve the conditions of access to such markets; and promote processes for the exchange of experiences and development of knowledge and cooperation in best practices, including the strengthening of South-South cooperation and the creation of incentives through green funds, in order to foster the changes needed to move in that direction. The strengthening and development of public-private partnerships have proven to be a focus for efforts towards a green economy involving action in a range of economic sectors, and such partnerships should be widely promoted in order to foster an increase in their multiplier effects.

At the local level, efforts towards a green economy should seek to strengthen community organization and participative models of governance of natural resources, cleaner production, organic production, the application of agricultural good practices and the generation of wealth through waste management, the development of green jobs and the necessary education and training processes, especially for women and youth, as well as the strengthening of local social economy initiatives that have proved successful. A more dynamic local economy should contribute to a more equitable distribution of national income. To that end, these populations' access to raw materials and markets should be enhanced, by improving transport and communication networks, organizing trade fairs for products and services generated using sustainable production processes, strengthening local planning tools and regulatory plans and improving inter-municipal coordination, in order to be able to generate lessons learned in addressing the vulnerability of small economies.

Global efforts to achieve a green economy should include the development of a carrying capacity index, which could be used by countries to measure the balance between natural resources conservation and human activity (environmental footprint) and would serve as an instrument to monitor progress; the definition of a road map, setting out the goals to be achieved by 2035 starting from a base line and including the possibility of generating sex-disaggregated information; and the creation of a global fund to finance green economy activities. The agreed global efforts should be accompanied by worldwide awareness-raising campaigns on the objectives being pursued and by clear planning of timescales and objectives, and should also benefit from the highest level of political support.

2. Institutional framework for sustainable development

a) Global

Rather than formulating positions on the various proposals that have been made in respect of the institutional framework for sustainable development, many of which are not complete and have not been analysed in depth by countries, the international community should identify the key elements and desirable characteristics of the said framework, with a view to subsequently preparing a strategy for its implementation, drawing on lessons learned and the strengths of the current mechanisms. The following elements could contribute to this process:

? The institutional framework for sustainable development should promote a balanced approach to the three pillars of sustainable development and should incorporate a democratic and transparent decision-making mechanism.

? It is important to ensure that the institutional framework has clear political leadership and authority, so that it has the appropriate capacity to organize global action based on the priority objectives established, facilitating the participation of all major groups in accordance with the Rio principles.

? Operational capacity should be created with the clear aim of consolidating a mechanism for coordination among entities of different types that currently have responsibility for matters relating to sustainable development and correspond to specific legal frameworks or decisions and systems of authority with various types of membership.

? The institutional framework for sustainable development must have the capacity and appropriate technical tools to ensure that progress in the implementation of national and global sustainable development measures is monitored and to identify consistently gaps and new challenges, in order to facilitate the adoption of an appropriate approach to these issues. It should, inter alia, foster the rationalization of the processes by means of which countries report on progress in implementation.

? Furthermore, the institutional framework for sustainable development should build on successful experiences in the promotion of political dialogue, especially through the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Sustainable Development, as well as the technical capacities developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the role played by financing mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility and the progress made with mechanisms for the implementation of programmes and projects, through UNDP, the international and regional development banks and others. It should, however, also be recognized that the cross-cutting nature of the issue will require efforts to integrate the programmes of work of other entities of the international system that are closely related to sustainable development objectives, including international environmental agreements, agencies in the trade, agriculture and industrial subsectors (World Trade Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, respectively), etc.

? The financial implications of any new institutional framework should be considered in depth and the proposed solutions should be analyzed on the basis of cost-efficiency criteria.

? Consideration of the institutional framework for sustainable development should also be guided by key criteria including integration, coherence, unity of political leadership and efficiency in the provision of services, both at the global and the national levels. Greater fragmentation of global institutions will necessarily worsen the problems of programmatic and institutional disintegration that our countries are already experiencing.
b) National

The institutional framework for sustainable development at the national level suffers in general from the same weaknesses as the global institutional framework: limited political leadership and the lack of a cohesive and efficient institutional structure that allows sustainable development issues to be positioned as the backbone of development strategies, largely owing to the sectoral nature of State organization and planning models adopted by our countries and the existence of a legal framework that imposes specific obligations on many of the institutions responsible for implementing public policy.

The absence of integrated systems of information on sustainable development, which in turn would allow the definition of targets and progress indicators, is a key constraint in the planning process. That process also requires operational and technical capacity consistent with global monitoring mechanisms, which certainly are not clearly defined. There is a particularly clear lack of information on the application of sustainable development principles at different territorial scales and on the generation of information allowing monitoring of progress in attending to the specific needs of vulnerable population groups and full consideration of the participation variables of the various stakeholder groups deriving from sustainable development principles.

A major difficulty in all these efforts relates to the political and technical limitations on implementing land-use planning policies and tools, which would make it possible to monitor the environmental footprint and tackle development challenges using a spatially-based approach, through joint, integrated actions by the various public actors, and would facilitate the involvement of local actors. These mechanisms should facilitate the coherence of development activities at the national, regional and municipal or local levels.

All of the above in turn requires clear political will and national dialogue to consolidate sustainable development as the cornerstone of national development processes, as well as the creation of the necessary space to reach consensus agreements on long-term national development models, thereby strengthening participatory forward planning. In addition, it is particularly important to have planning frameworks with impacts that extend beyond the term of a specific Government ? generally driven by medium-and short-term goals ? in order to allow progress to be made towards long-term human development objectives.

Furthermore, with regard to monitoring and participation, efforts to establish and consolidate permanent mechanisms for popular dialogue and negotiation should be facilitated through international cooperation, ensuring the participation of the major groups, which are strategic actors for meeting the commitment to pursue sustainable growth and development, as well as respecting and valuing eco-system services as part of the national economy. These mechanisms should, inter alia, constitute a tool to promote the implementation and, in the long term, evaluate the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference.